Kipnis, Alexander

Encyclopedia of World Biography
COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc.

Alexander Kipnis

Ukrainian–born American operatic bass Alexander Kipnis (1891–1978) enjoyed an illustrious career made infamous by his mastery of German basso roles. His rich voice and thoughtful interpretations left an indelible mark in the hearts of opera patrons around the world.

Early Life

Alexander Kipnis was born February 13 (February 1 by the Julian calendar), 1891, in the village of Zhitomir in the southern Russian Ukraine. He shared a home in a Jewish ghetto with four siblings and his parents. His academic schooling was basic at best, and although no one in his family played or sang music professionally, David Ewen's Musicians Since 1900 notes one of his early memories, "Once in a while I can remember my mother [Machli] singing as she would be working around the house, and later on I was astonished to recognize what she sang was 'La donna è mobile' or Schubert's Serenade. Where she heard them I don't know." It was the folk music of the Russian peasants surrounding his everyday existence that became a motivating influence, as the same interview explains, "I would hear their songs at twilight when they would play and sing for themselves, and by the time I was four or five years old I had learned most of their songs." His father Isaiah Kipnis, a fabric salesman, was a learned man but with no musical background. He died when Kipnis was 12 years old. That same year a juvenile Kipnis ran off briefly with an opera troupe that visited his village. He then earned a little money as a boy soprano singing in local synagogues before his voice began to change, but he returned home to work as a carpenter's apprentice in an effort to help his mother support their family. He began the study of music at the age of 19 in the hopes that mastering two instruments might result in him being drafted into the Russian Army (an inevitability) at the rank of officer. He began by studying the double bass and the trombone.

Education

While a student at the Warsaw Conservatory Kipnis turned his focus to learning the skills of conducting, and graduated as a conductor with honors in 1912 at the age of 21. Once graduated, his efforts to achieve a better military post through musical knowledge paid off, and he served for a time as a military bandmaster. He also sang in Conservatory choirs and took rudimentary voice lessons from an Italian teacher there. He began frequenting operas and became inspired by what he saw and heard, particularly by the Italian singer Mattia Battistini. Once he had served his time in the military, he concentrated on crafting his natural singing ability. He knew that to truly study voice he must go either to Austria or Germany. In an interesting account recorded in Musicians Since 1900, Kipnis describes standing "on the railroad station in Warsaw wondering which of these two capitals should become his destination. While he was trying to reach a decision an express train for Berlin rolled in and Kipnis allowed fate to decide for him." He ended up taking vocal lessons with Ernst Grenzebach at the Klindworth—Scharwenka Conservatory, and the heldentenors Lauritz Melchior and Max Lorenz in Berlin. In 1913 and 1914 Kipnis sang in small production operettas in Berlin, but in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War Kipnis was interned as an enemy alien because he was Russian, although they permitted him to continue his musical studies. He was heard singing one day by a German colonel whose brother was the Impresario for the Hamburg Opera. The colonel suggested that Kipnis audition for his brother, and once he had, Kipnis was allowed to continue his study of singing, but under strict police surveillance. When not performing, Kipnis was kept secluded and under police guard. He spent this time alone practicing and building his repertory of roles and parts such as Gurnemanz in Richard Wagner's Parsifal, Colline in La Bohème, Kezal in Bedrich Smetana's The Bartered Bride, Sparafucile and Monterone in Rigoletto, Ramfis in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, Bartolo in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Operatic Career

Kipnis's debut was in the role of the hermit in Carl Maria von Weber's Die Freischütz with the Hamburg Opera in Hamburg, Germany, in 1915. From 1916 through 1918 he sang as a member of the Wiesbaden Opera. Once the war was over, he toured with the Berlin State Opera, appearing in various roles and venues from 1919 through 1934 when he settled in the United States. He came to the United States for the first time in 1923 as a member of a visiting operatic ensemble the German Opera Company and made his debut in Baltimore on January 31 of that year. On April 7, 1925, Kipnis married Mildred Levy, the daughter of American concert pianist Heniot Levy. They had one son named Igor who, in his own career became an internationally acclaimed harpsichordist. Kipnis made his New York debut in the role of Pogner in Wagner's Die Meistersinger on February 12, 1923. Immediately after his debut the Chicago Civic Opera seized him and he sang with them for a total of nine seasons. While in their company he took principle basso roles in French, Italian and German repertories. In 1932 Kipnis left Chicago to return to sing as principle bass for the Berlin State Opera in Germany until 1935. He had success in London, the Bayreuth Festivals, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Salzburg and Buenos Aires. During Hitler's rise to power Kipnis left Germany and traveled to Italy to join the Vienna State Opera.

While in Vienna Kipnis sang the roles of Baron Ochs in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Boris Godunov in the Modest Mussorgsky opera by the same name, Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, and Gurnemanz which had become his signature role. According to Musicians Since 1900, he was so popular in Vienna that he "he sold out the large concert hall [there] for two recitals, at each of which he was compelled to repeat every number of the program because of the vociferous audience reaction." During this time he also appeared at the Paris Opera. Kipnis became an American citizen in 1934 at the age of 43, and made the United States his permanent residence in 1938 in part as a renunciation of the activities of the Nazi regime when Austria was annexed that same year.

On January 5, 1940, Kipnis had his much anticipated and surprisingly belated debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York city in the role of Gurnemanz. He remained at the Met for the 1940–1946 seasons displaying his formidable talent in the Wagnerian repertory and playing roles such as Boris Godunov, Sarastro, King Mark in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, Baron Ochs, Hermann in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Hagen in Wagner's Die Götterdämmerung, Arkel in Claude Debussy's Pelléas and Mélisande, Fasolt in Wagner's Das Rheingold, Rocco in Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio, Hunding in Wagner's Die Walküre, Nilakantha in Leo Delibes's Lakmé, and Leporello. Kipnis retired from the opera in 1946. His exit performance at the Met was in the same role as that of his debut, the Gurnemanz he had perfected to such critical adoration.

Kipnis's voice has been described as unusually flexible for his range, and is praised for its high level of refinement and tonal variety. Robin May's A Companion to the Opera notes that critic Steane called him a "miracle among singers" and described his voice as "grandly sonorous." While there are some critics who claim that Kipnis's performances were not unusually inspiring, everyone agrees that his delivery was always technically breathtaking and textbook perfect. Despite his ethnic heritage as a Russian Jew, his training was almost exclusively German, and although he did experiment with the Russian repertory, his fame lay in his mastery of the German roles. The unusual flexibility of his vocal inflection and range that is so often mentioned also allowed him to execute Italian roles as well as German ones, despite the fact that the Italian roles are often more technically challenging. The International Dictionary of Opera explains, "Throughout his career he dabbled in Russian repertoire, but he was never considered a Russian singer in style, vocal quality, or instinct. He was, in fact, the finest German–style bass of his epoch. The smooth voice, spacious phrasing, and sheer vocal resource, however, were a marked departure from the accepted German bass school of his time, which emphasized cavernous black sound at the bottom and 'barking' the upper register with disregard for pitch. Instead of black sound Kipnis produced a deep rich velvety sound, never 'barked' the upper register, and was scrupulous in matters of pitch. This vocal culture enabled him to sing the big Italian roles with extraordinary smoothness." The beauty of his voice was matched always with tremendous stage presence, the combination of which catapulted him to international operatic fame.

Lieder Master

In addition to his obvious talents as an operatic singer, Kipnis was also a celebrated and critically acclaimed interpreter and singer of lieder (German for "songs"—short, poetic songs referred to in English as "art songs"). Critics quoted in Musicians Since 1900 called Kipnis "not only one of the greatest contemporary operatic basses but also one of the foremost living masters of the Lied" as well as "the greatest male interpreter of Debussy's song literature." The entry on Kipnis in The Music Makers states that "His voice had remarkable flexibility and great range, enabling him to perform lieder as effectively as opera." His success as a lieder soloist was rare for his range, as the entry in American National Biography explains, "He was renowned for the ease, nobility, sonority, and security of his voice in all registers throughout a two—octave compass… a somewhat rare achievement for a deep—timbred bass singer." He recorded the Lieder of Hugo Wolf for a special issue by the Hugo Wolf Son Society, and he regarded it as some of his finest work.

Life After the Opera

Kipnis spent much of his time after retiring from the opera circuit recording his various roles and the songs of the masters. He is one of the most widely recorded singers of his time and his recordings were invaluable to operatic culture. He was surprisingly versatile as a recording artist, and recorded opera, lieder, and classical and contemporary vocal works. In 1937 Kipnis was sought out by the Brahms Song Society to sing on both volumes of their special recording of the Brahms repertory. He gave master classes in voice at the
Julliard School of Music, the New York College of Music, and the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood. Kipnis died May 14, 1978, in a convalescent home in Westport, Connecticut. His renditions of classic bass roles and his gift for bringing the pleasures of lieder to an international audience have secured Alexander Kipnis an exalted place in operatic history and culture.

Books

American National Biography, Volume 12, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Kipnis, Alexander

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press

Alexander Kipnis (kĬp´nĬs), 1891–1978, Russian-American operatic bass. He studied conducting at the Warsaw Conservatory and voice in Berlin. He made his operatic debut (1915) in Hamburg. Imprisoned by the Germans in World War I as an enemy alien, he was freed and permitted to sing in Wiesbaden. From 1919 to 1930 he was the principal bass of the Berlin Opera Company. He appeared with the Chicago Opera Company (1923–32) and toured extensively. His debut at the Metropolitan Opera House (1940) was as Gurnemanz in Parsifal. He is noted for his performance of the role of Boris Godunov. His son, Igor Kipnis, 1931–2002, was a well-known harpsichordist.

Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.